How to run a successful office Christmas Party.

It's the middle of July and the sun is out. But over at Just Venue HQ, we're talking about Christmas Parties and all that comes along with organising a successful Christmas Party. (We're not mad - honest)

We know that planning the perfect event takes a bit of thought and a few months work, that's why we are getting in early with some usual suggestions on so you can sit back, enjoy the sun and know you have planned the perfect space months in advance.

Let's face it, you want to be known as the coolest person in the office right?

Why should you host a Christmas Party?

Christmas parties are a great way to boost morale, celebrate success and have a few yule time drinks. Christmas parties are also a great way to get out of the office and enjoy the festive celebrations. (Who doesn't like to do that).

Advisory note: Don't drink too much and tell the boss what you think of him - I might be talking from experience.

Who should run your Christmas Party?

Typically how it works in most offices is someone is chosen either at random or through a democratic voting process of everyone getting together and saying "they'll do it". Over the years, we have found this always is not the best way of selecting someone as the event ends up being unorganised, unthought out and put together at the last minute. You will probably end up in a small pub in the center of town with a cold sausage roll! (No one wants that)

Step 1. Start with a brief.

What type of event are we talking here? Are we talking about a sit-down meal and a couple of quiet drinks?

Or are we talking about Brenda from admin knocking back tequila slammers and pretending she could pole dance?

Whatever the occasion, it all starts with a well thought out brief that considers everyone in your office. That's right, Even John with the Pacemaker.

If you have a small team, we would suggest that you perhaps ask around the office to find out if another team putting another event on, or put something on your internal intranet system. If you're the sole team going on a night out as your office is that small. Try putting a post on Facebook and asking friends if they are having an event.

If you're more the team building type we would suggest you go see a concert or perhaps visiting a Christmas Party.

Another important factor you have to consider is the time of day the event starts. Is it going to be a day event, followed by an evening event? Or even both day and night.

You will need to consider if you are inviting your clients, key contacts in the business and people who you think might be beneficial.

Step 2. Get the date sorted.

Before you come to our venue booking site and book a space, you need to start with the all-important crucial date. The quicker you can get a date in the diary the better. People are busy around Christmas time and dates start filling up fast.

The quicker you get a date in the diary, the cheaper it will be. We have found that if you start booking your Christmas party as earlier as July the better a deal to be had. Plus you also don't want to book a venue and then find out everyone cant makes it.

The most popular date to book a night out is a Friday on the run-up to the 25th. Naturally, everyone is finishing work for the week and going straight out. The more flexible you can be with the date the cheaper the event will be.

We have seen some of our customers booking events Mid Week, on Tuesday's and Wednesday's to try and get the best deals. Another technique is to wait until after Christmas. You can get great deals in January for Venue Space.

The hardest thing is getting a date that suits every person in your party. We have found that the easiest thing to do is to go with the majority and pick the date that suits the biggest group of people.

3. Location.

The most important thing about finding a good location is you need to think about public-transport links and there are good taxi services located nearby. The location can directly affect how many people attend so be sure to get this right. We would always suggest going local (Town Centres) or if you do plan on going further out into perhaps the countryside, then put on a bus from your office.

4. The Venue.

Naturally, this is where we can help. We have locations up and down the country. From London Venues to Dundee Venues we have suitable venue spaces for Christmas Parties.

Choosing the perfect venue can be hard but hopefully, by using our Online Event Platform you can find and book the perfect space. It is super simple.

Go to our homepage and type in a location.
Then from the drop-down select the occasion (in this example party)

You will then be presented with a list of filters, you can filter by:

Dates

No. Guests

Time

Space Type

Occasion Type

Price

Instant Booking

Features

Property Type of Venue

We believe that our website is super simple and easy to use and will save you hours of searching for the perfect venue space.

Other things to consider are

Do they have a DJ

Is there a dance floor?

Is it a private function or will it be a shared space?

Is there access to an outdoor terrace?

Will you have some food?

5. The catering.

Let's face it, its the most important part of a good Christmas party (the food)

Are you going to organise a catering company to come and do all the catering or will you have a sitdown meal before you start to dance? Some venues offer a per person price for Christmas Parties which include drinks and food.

6. The entertainment.

You may have already discovered that the venue has access to a DJ or a sound system.

To keep the costs down you could play music through your phone and hook it up to Spotify or Youtube.

We would always recommend that you hire a DJ as the last thing you want is the music to stop or someone spending their night becoming the DJ. Typically Dj's will be anything between £100-200 for a smaller party and for a larger party they could be £300-500. If you go for the likes of Calvin Harris you will be into the 10's of thousands (Do not tell Barbara from Accounts)

The other option is you hire a band, who could conduct a ceilidh or some other form of dancing activities. It is always good seeing your friends and colleagues getting up to dance to a rendition Paul McCartney and Wings - "Wonderful Christmas Time".

One thing to check before you go and book a DJ or a Band. Check with the venue first to ensure they allow this. Some venues do not have music licences or they have their own preferred suppliers.

It is worthwhile to check to ensure your DJ has a licence to protect against breakages and the Band has Public Liability Insurance.

7. Tell people about it.

Make sure you spread the word around the office that there is a Christmas Party happening. You could use:

If you follow the above 7 steps you will have an awesome Christmas Party. It will be spoken about for weeks afterwards. My final thoughts are don't drink too much (no one wants to be that person) Keep it strictly professional and go and have fun. You have planned such a great event, let the stress and worry go and enjoy your night. Until next year!